The Dragon Keeper (47 page)

The Bingtown man looked at him. “Then how do we know where we are going?”

Captain Leftrin’s grin widened. “I’d say our best bet is to follow the dragons.”

SEDRIC’S HANDS WERE SWEATING. So far, it had all gone so well. He had inside his case two strips of dragon flesh and hide, with scales attached. One he had pushed into a bottle prepared with vinegar and stoppered it securely. The second piece he had placed in a small wooden box with coarse salt around it and latched the lid tightly. One or the other method, he trusted, would work. Both preservation vessels had been prepared weeks ago, before he had embarked on this journey. Once he had realized that Hest was serious, that he was going to force him to go to the Rain Wilds as Alise’s companion, he had been determined that the journey would provide him with a way to escape a life he had begun to find burdensome. Everyone knew that the desperate Duke of Chalced was willing to pay anyone’s asking price for the ingredients that might cure his maladies and extend his life. Sedric had decided he would be the one to furnish them.

And he had succeeded.

Now he was torn between triumph and dismay. He had exactly what he needed to change his fortune. As soon as he returned to Bingtown, he could contact Begasti Cored. The man had been eager to act as a go-between when Sedric had ventured the idea to him. Begasti would arrange his journey and his audience with the Duke of Chalced. It wasn’t just the riches that these scraps of flesh would bring him. It was the complete change in his life that he hungered to experience.

For the first time, he would have money, money that was his, earned solely by his own efforts. Not his father’s money, not his family’s money, not even the inflated wages that Hest paid him for his ser vices. His own money, to spend as he desired. Exactly as he desired. Dreams that had slowly shaped themselves inside his heart for the past four years clamored to be free. With this money, he could take Hest and they could leave Bingtown. They could go south, to Jamaillia, no, beyond Jamaillia, to lands he knew only as exotic names. There were places where two men could live as they wished to live, without questions, without condemnation or scandal. The money these scraps of dragon flesh would bring him would carry the two of them to those places, far from their families and their histories. It would buy them a future without secrets.

He scarcely dared to taste the thought that followed. It would buy him a future in which he and Hest were on an equal footing. For far too long he’d been completely dependent on Hest financially. The inequity had intruded more and more cruelly into their relationship. Hest was no longer merely assertive; he’d become cruelly dominant of late. If Sedric had a fortune of his own, perhaps Hest would give him more respect.

He had what he needed; all that was left to do was to get his treasure safely back to Bingtown and make contact with Begasti. And the sooner the better. It was a long sea journey to Chalced, but he would not trust these goods to any hand save his own; the swifter he delivered his merchandise, the better. Vinegar and salt were excellent ways to preserve many sorts of vegetables and flesh, but they had never been tested on dragon meat. The stuff that the girl had cut from the dragon wasn’t exactly of the best quality, either. He planned, when he had a quiet, private moment, to clean both strips of maggots and tidy them up a bit. He’d pluck the scales free and store them separately from the flesh. But the important thing was to get them back to Bingtown as quickly as possible. An extended wander along a riverbank following a herd of dim-witted dragons did not feature in his plans.

“Alise,” he said, and her name came out more sharply than he intended. She turned away from Captain Leftrin, her brows raised quizzically. The others were watching them, but he spoke as if they were alone. “You can’t intend to follow through on this wild adventure. Surely by now you’ve seen that nothing is to be gained by following the dragons. They’ve scarcely spoken to you, and what they did say wasn’t useful. Alise, it’s time to admit that you’ve learned all you can here. We can’t get on Captain Leftrin’s boat and leave here. Once we do, we’re committed to travel for weeks, perhaps months. Neither of us can do that. It’s time to admit we’ve done all we can with these creatures.” He let his voice drop into gentleness. “You did what you set out to do. It’s not your fault that they aren’t what you hoped to find. I’m sorry, Alise. It’s time to go home.”

She stared at him. She wasn’t the only one. Leftrin was looking at him as if he’d taken leave of his senses. The two Rain Wild youngsters exchanged glances, and Tats suddenly said, “I think Thymara and I had best be going after our dragons.” It was as awkward an excuse to flee from the site of a quarrel as Sedric had ever heard. But the girl was obviously grateful for it, because she nodded emphatically. The two of them immediately set off at a dogged trot.

Alise was silent for a moment longer, obviously waiting for them to be out of earshot. Sedric could almost see her putting her objections into polite phrases. They would quarrel, yes, but politely and calmly, as civilized people did.

Leftrin had evidently never been taught such niceties. The color had come up in his face. He took a deep gulp of air, struggled for control, and then blurted, “How can you say such a thing to her? She can’t go back now. She’s the only one who knows about Kelsingra. Besides, she promised. She signed the contract! She can’t go back on her word.”

“This doesn’t concern you,” Sedric said flatly. His voice had risen in spite of himself. He was offended, both that Leftrin had dared to challenge him on this and that he had sided with Alise. It was going to be hard enough to herd her safely back to Bingtown; if she felt she had an ally in Leftrin, it was only going to complicate his task.

“It does,” the captain said flatly. “She was there when I made my deal with the Council. Think I would have agreed on this trip if she hadn’t said she’d heard of the place and that it did exist? I only took the contract because I thought that she’d be along as a guide, not just to the possible location but to the dragons.”

Sedric glanced at Alise, but she seemed content to let Leftrin speak for her. Sedric focused his words on her anyway. “You may have heard of the city, but that doesn’t mean you know the way. Come, Alise, be your calm, sensible self about this. You’re a scholar, not an adventurer. Even the dragon that can speak to you told you nothing; you said so yourself. And the silver and Tats’s dragon don’t seem promising sources of information, either. If you are honest, you have to admit that you’d gain more from spending a week in Trehaug, touring the underground city. There is a treasure trove of material there for you to study and translate. Why not return there with me and put your time to something that will not only increase our knowledge of Elderlings and dragons but will gain you the respect you deserve from those who know the most about these creatures?” Even if they had to spend a few days in Trehaug to placate her, that would be better than setting off on a harebrained journey to parts unknown. He knew that once they boarded that barge and departed upriver there would be no easy way for them to return, save on the barge itself. And that stubborn old goat of a captain was not likely to turn back until he’d given the task an honest try. “Alise, it’s not safe,” he went on desperately. “How can I accompany you on this journey, how can I allow you to go? You’ve all admitted you don’t know where you are going, or how long it will take to get there, or even if the city still exists. This is a ridiculous journey.” He firmed his resolve and ended his lecture with, “We aren’t going. That’s all there is to it.”

He had never spoken so firmly to her. For a long moment, she regarded him in silence. Her mouth worked and he feared she would cry. He didn’t want to make her weep, only to be sensible. She glanced over at Leftrin. The riverman had folded his arms across his chest; his face was set like stone. Even the stubble on his unshaven cheeks stood out stiffly. He looked, Sedric thought, like an indignant bulldog.

When Alise’s gaze came back to him, she was pink all around her freckles. Her voice was low, not shrill. She declared stubbornly, “You may do as you wish, Sedric. As you say, it’s a foolish quest. I won’t argue with you there, for I can’t. You’re right. It’s insane. But I’m going.”

He stood stunned as she turned away from him. She put her hand out as if groping blindly, and suddenly Leftrin was there, offering her his arm. She set her hand on his grubby jacket sleeve and then he was leading her away, leaving Sedric staring after her. He clutched his precious case with the preserved bits of dragon in it and weighed his options. In his anger, he wanted to just do as she had suggested; leave her there and go home himself. Leave her to her own foolish decision and let her find the disaster she was so eagerly courting.

But he couldn’t. He couldn’t go back to Trehaug, let alone Bingtown, without her. Certainly not back to Hest, not even if he had dragon flesh and scales worth a fortune preserved in his case. It would take time to change those things into money, time and discretion. And returning to Bingtown without Hest’s wife would be the most indiscreet thing he could ever do. He’d have no way to explain it. It would focus attention on him, attention he could not afford to attract to himself just now.

He realized abruptly that Alise and Leftrin had nearly reached the barge. Ropes were being untied, and the polemen stood ready to shove the barge back out into the river. He looked up and down the mudflats. The dragons were gone. At the river’s edge, the keepers were dragging small boats down to the water. In a very short time, he suspected this area would be deserted. “Alise!” he shouted, but she didn’t even turn her head. The sound of the river and the endless wind carried his voice away. He cursed then and began to walk toward the barge as swiftly as he dared. “Alise, wait!” he shouted as he saw her start up the ladder dangling over the barge’s stern. And then he began to run.

Year the 6th of the Independent Alliance of Traders

From Detozi, Keeper of the Birds, Trehaug

To Erek, Keeper of the Birds, Bingtown

Enclosed in a sealed scroll case, from the Traders’ Councils at Trehaug and Cassarick, an accounting of the initial expenses of mounting the expedition to move the dragons, with the Bingtown Council’s share of said expenses shown separately.

Erek,

Your missive concerning the cost and availability of a hundred-weight sack of peas to improve the health of the flock at Trehaug has still not been delivered to me. Please resend the information.

Detozi

T
he dragons hadn’t halted at the river’s edge. Some had plunged into the shallows. Others had tried to walk on the flotsam-littered bank until the undergrowth and river debris had forced them out into the water. But all of them moved steadily and doggedly upstream.

The keepers, including Thymara, had hastened to their small boats and followed. She had hoped to be paired with Tats. It had been a selfish hope; he was well muscled and experienced with small boats and she knew he would do his share of the work and perhaps more. Jerd had been waiting at the shore, standing by one of the small boats. She waved cheerily at Tats as they arrived and called out to him, “I’ve already loaded your rucksack, slowcoach. Let’s go! Your green dragon was one of the first ones into the water.”

“Sorry, Thymara,” Tats had muttered, red-faced.

“Sorry for what?” she’d said, but it was a moment too late for him to hear it. He was already hastening to push Jerd’s boat out into the water. Nearly all of the other boats were already loaded and pushing away from the shore, each carrying two or three dragon keepers. Rapskal sat alone and dejected in the sole remaining boat. His face brightened the moment he saw her. “Well, I guess we’ll be partners, then,” he’d greeted her. And as annoyed as she’d felt with the situation, she still found herself nodding. Tats’s “sorry” was still rankling in her breast. He’d known that what he was doing was rude enough to rate an apology to her, but it still hadn’t dissuaded him from doing it. The scum-rat.

“Let me get my gear,” she’d told Rapskal, and had run back to their deserted campsite. She’d grabbed her pack and returned to the canoe. Rapskal sat in it, paddle poised, as she shoved it out into the river. She’d leaped the water and landed in the narrow boat, making it rock wildly but keeping her feet dry. Seizing her heavily waxed paddle, she pushed them out into deeper water. A spare set of paddles was under her feet. Not for the first time, she wondered how long their paddles would stand up to the river, and how long their boat would last. The river had been mild of late, its water dark gray. Like every child who had grown up in the Rain Wilds, she knew the water was most dangerous when it ran milky white. Then anyone who fell into it might be scalded and blinded from a single dunking. The dark gray water that flowed past her paddle today would do no more than sting, but its touch was still to be avoided.

This was her first time to partner with Rapskal in a boat. To her surprise, he proved to be competent, digging his paddle in rhythm with hers. He guided them deftly around snags and mud bars as she provided most of the power that pushed them along. They kept to the edge of the river and the shade of the leaning trees, moving where the current was slowest, and soon caught up with the others. Greft, she noticed, had joined Boxter and Kase in one of the larger boats. Their paddling was uneven; Greft was using his oar mostly as a tiller. She and Rapskal moved easily alongside them and then passed them. She felt a small thrill of satisfaction at that. Rapskal grinned at her conspiratorially, and she felt an irrational lift to her spirits.

The boats of the other keepers were arranged in a straggling line before them. Sylve and Lecter shared a canoe, as did Warken and Harrikin. Alum and Nortel seemed well matched as paddlers. Tats and Jerd had moved up to lead them all, not that leadership was necessary. The trail the dragons had left was unmistakable, both in the river shallows and on the boggy bank. They had trampled the brush into the mucky shore of the river, and in the shallows, their deep footprints streamed a deeper gray water into the slow current.

“They’re moving pretty fast, aren’t they?” Rapskal observed enthusiastically.

“Right now they are. I doubt they’ll be able to keep it up for long,” she replied as she paddled doggedly. The dragons steadily and swiftly increased their lead. She was astonished to see them move so rapidly. She had expected the small swift boats to keep pace with them easily, but every time she glanced up, the dragons were farther away. Even the silver and the copper dragons were lolloping along after the others. She noticed that the silver was holding his tail above the water, and hoped he’d continue to do so. It bothered her that she hadn’t finished bandaging his injury. It bothered her even more that Skymaw had left without even speaking to her. Apparently she meant little to the blue queen.

“Did you see your dragon today?” she asked Rapskal. She was settling into the rhythm of paddling again. First, she knew, her muscles would ache. Then they’d ease into the exercise and for a time, all would go smoothly. What she dreaded was when they’d begin to ache again, because no matter how they hurt, they could not stop paddling until they went ashore for the night. A few days of traveling by boat had toughened all of the dragon keepers and taught them the basics of watercraft, but she had a feeling that her body would hurt a lot more before she was completely accustomed to this. She leaned harder into her paddling.

“ ’Course I did.” Rapskal timed his words to his efforts. “After I ate, I went and groomed Heeby. Then we did our flying exercises. Then I watched Heeby eat. It made me mad. The big dragons take the best food. She doesn’t get as much to eat as they do. When we stop tonight, I got to catch her a fish or something. But I think that’s going to be a problem. If the dragons go this fast, so we have to paddle all the time to keep up, when are we going to have time to hunt or fish for food for them?”

“There’s supposed to be some food on the barge, for us, and some dried meat for the dragons. We don’t know how long they’ll keep up this pace. Maybe they’ll stop in a few hours and we’ll have time to hunt.” She shook her head. “There’s a lot we don’t know yet. I guess we’ll learn as we go along.”

“I saw the hunters get on board the barge back there. They’re supposed to help us get meat for the dragons each day.”

“I didn’t see them. I’m glad they got here before the dragons decided to leave. But if the hunters are on the barge back there, how are they going to hunt anything?”

“That’s a very good question. What’s that ahead of us?”

She squinted against the sunlight bouncing off the river. “Looks like a big snag sticking out into the water, with a lot of driftwood piled up against it.”

Rapskal grinned. “We’ll have to go out in the current to get around it.”

“No. Let’s hug the shore. If we have to, we’ll portage around it. I don’t want to get out in the current.”

“Are you scared?” Rapskal sounded delighted at the prospect. When she glanced over her shoulder at him, he turned his wide grin on her. When he smiled, all his strangeness seemed to melt away and he became simply a very handsome Rain Wild youth. She still shook her head at his challenge.

“Yes. I am scared,” she replied firmly. “And we are not going out into the current. Not until I’m better at managing this boat.”

But suddenly, partnering with Rapskal instead of Tats did not seem such a poor trade.

LEFTRIN WAITED UNTIL Alise was aboard the barge before he started up the ladder. He knew he needed to focus his mind on the final loading of the barge and shoving the
Tarman
back out into the current. No one had expected the dragons to stampede off like that. The plan had been that the barge would lead the way, followed by the keepers in their canoes guiding and encouraging the dragons. Now the dragons were completely out of sight, and the last of the canoes would soon vanish around a bend in the wandering river. And here he sat, on shore still, with cargo of dried meat, hardtack, salt pork, and pickled breadleaf still being loaded. If any of the young keepers overturned their canoes, there would be nothing he could do to help them. And from what he’d seen of the youngsters, mishaps seemed more likely than not.

Well, all he could do right now was worry about them until he had all the stores safely stowed. Then he’d have to get his barge back out into the water and headed upriver. He tried to push Alise out of his thoughts. Now was no time to be wishing that he could sit her down in the galley and offer her a quiet cup of tea and some talk. He’d been so proud of her for standing up to Sedric when he tried to bully her into backing out of her adventure. She’d kept a stone face and a stern resolve all the way back to the barge. He followed her up the ladder, wondering if he’d have time to let her know how impressed he was.

But as he stepped onto his deck, he encountered not only a heap of unstowed cargo but three strangers lounging against it. Alise had frozen where she was, just off the ladder, her back to the barge’s rail. Instinctively he moved between her and the men. He sized up their scattered goods in one glance. Spears and bows, one a heavy bow for distance shooting. A carefully folded net. Several quivers of arrows. Hunters’ gear. These would be the fellows they’d been waiting for, the hunters hired by the Council. One turned toward him, grinning, and only then did he recognize Carson. He’d grown a beard. The big man put out a calloused hand to him, saying, “I’ll bet you’re surprised to see me here! Or maybe I was exactly what you were expecting. This is just the sort of misadventure that always finds us, so it’s no coincidence we’ve both signed on for it.”

Simple words spoken between old friends, yet they suddenly made Leftrin’s heart sink. He desperately hoped there was no meaning layered beneath that greeting, that his use of the words was a true coincidence. He didn’t want Carson to be the one whom the note had warned him to expect. Not Carson. He forced an answering grin to his face and asked him, “Now why would I be expecting a drunken sot like you on my clean deck?”

“Because drunk or sober, I’m the best damn hunter this river has ever seen, and I’m exactly what you’re going to need to keep those dragons from eating each other or you before this is all over. This is Davvie here, an up-and-coming bowman who still needs his arse kicked from time to time. He’s my nephew, but don’t let that stop you when it comes to arse-kicking time. And this fellow is Jess, who I only met this morning, but he seems to think he can keep up with me. I’ll soon teach him better.”

The first was a youngster near fresh faced as a Bingtowner but with the shoulders of a good archer. He bore a strong resemblance to his uncle, with the same unruly brown hair and dark eyes. He shook Leftrin’s hand and met his eyes with an honest grin. If Carson was up to something nefarious, Leftrin would wager that Davvie had no knowledge of it. He still gave the boy a serious look and told him firmly, “You see that Skelly? The deckhand with the long black braid down her back? Well, she may look like a girl but she’s not. She’s my deckhand and my niece. And that means that, to you, she’s not a girl.”

Davvie looked properly daunted, but Carson just shook his head, a smile twitching the corner of his mouth. “I guarantee you, Leftrin, there will be no problems with Davvie in that department,” he said as the lad ducked his head and blushed.

Jess was an older man with graying hair above gray eyes who scowled at Carson’s deprecating introduction and offered Leftrin only a curt nod. Leftrin instantly disliked him, and he felt a thrill of distrust go through him as well. He didn’t offer the man his hand, and Jess didn’t appear to notice that lack of courtesy.

Carson demanded abruptly, “And aren’t you going to introduce me and explain what a fresh flower like this is doing on your stinking old barge?”

It seemed impossible but he had briefly forgotten that Alise was standing there behind him. He glanced at her, then grinned as he confronted Carson. “Stinking barge? Not until you came on board, Carson. Alise Finbok, I’m afraid I have to introduce you to an old friend of mine. Carson Lupskip. Hunter, braggart, and drunk, not necessarily in that order. Carson, this is Alise. She’s aboard as our expert on dragons and Elderlings, newly arrived from Bingtown and happily willing to advise and educate us on this voyage.”

He’d thought his words would make her smile. Instead, she ducked her head and abruptly declared in a husky voice, “You must excuse me. I’ve a few things to do before we depart.” And before he could say another word, she scuttled away to her quarters and slipped inside, shutting the door firmly behind her. He suspected it would be dark and hot in there, but off she’d gone anyway. And even knowing as little of women as he did, he suspected she sought privacy for weeping. Damn him for a fool. He should have known that the confrontation with Sedric would upset her. He was just as glad the man wasn’t going to be accompanying them. She’d get over her doubts a lot faster without him around. He wanted nothing so much as to follow her and reassure her, if she would allow such a thing. But he couldn’t, not with this threesome cluttering up his deck with their gear and themselves. When he turned back to Carson, he found his old friend regarding him knowingly.

“Is she expert on more than dragons?” he asked teasingly.

“I wouldn’t know,” Leftrin snapped back at him. Then, embarrassed, he tried to soften it with, “Welcome aboard, Carson. Maybe tonight we’ll find some time to catch up on old news. For now, please, all three of you find yourselves some space in the deckhouse and stow that stuff where it won’t be underfoot. Swarge! Did the rest of our cargo come on board yet? Because at the rate those dragons were traveling, we’d best be after them.”

“They won’t keep up that pace for long,” Carson predicted. “By afternoon—”

The hunter stopped speaking abruptly, staring past Leftrin. The captain turned to find Sedric awkwardly climbing over the rail of the barge. He gripped his supply case to his chest with one arm while he struggled. “What do we have here?” Carson asked quietly. A slow smile spread across his face.

“Oh, him.” Leftrin fought for neutrality in his voice. He spoke to Carson alone, saying, “He goes where Alise does. Supposed to look after her.”

“That must be inconvenient,” Carson muttered quietly.

“Just shut up,” Leftrin replied with feeling.

Davvie had darted over to the ladder and attempted to help Sedric by taking his case for him. The man scowled at the lad and held tight to it as he clambered awkwardly over the railing. As he straightened up, he brushed at his clothing, and then came directly to the captain, demanding, “Where’s Alise?”